Edited by author 01-12-2005 10:47 PM
SCHEDULE:

Jan 15 - 18   Family and partners private viewing
Jan 19 - 23   Public viewing
Jan 24 – 26   Stage I jury viewing and deliberations
Jan 27 – on   Public viewing continues
Jan 27        Selection of stage II participants
Feb 04        Stage II participants announced

Edited by author 01-12-2005 07:47 PM
SV, I don't know if a digital photo would be as good as a scan, but I suppose it depends on what you want it for. I did my board on my PC, but I've taken photos of sketches and other things I've done by hand in the past with my Nikon digital, and I don't have any trouble viewing them on my PC screen.

Man, that was a lousy trip. I'll bet you're glad to be back home.

Edited by author 01-12-2005 07:45 PM
 Siempro: /m7686 I talk about the view on the Ridge, also close to the draglines.

Thanks for your digital camera suggestion. I hope it happens soon.

From /m7680 :

What's the Ridge like? Further away from the Crash Site.
There is wind. Tall grass. Wetness. Further north the draglines appear larger. But it depends on what you are doing and presenting and saying with your submission.
Yes, the view is expansive. You hit the viewpoint on the head with a shrewd comment.

SV, thanks for the answer. I was actually interested in the view from up on the high ridge, where the draglines are. I forgot that you wouldn't actually be able to get up there, because only the temporary memorial area is open, and it's only half-way between ground zero and the draglines.

If you want to save big bucks to copy your flat work, get a digital camera, with four or more megapixel. Then you can do it yourself.

 
 
January 12, 2005
 
Dear Families,
 
Please disregard the last email that was sent out regarding the January 9th vigil. It was sent out in error.
 
For your information over 200 families attended the vigil on January 9th. We feel it was a great success and a united effort in memory of our loved ones. Thank you to all who participated.
 
Members of the Coalition of 9/11 Families, the WTC Families For Proper Burial and the Skyscraper Safety Campaign spoke at the vigil. Some of the issues that were discussed were:
 
- Preservation of the footprints of the buildings. The Coalition is concerned about the quality and quantity of access to both the North and South footprints of the buildings
- The footprints of the South tower must also be incorporated into the Memorial, they must be preserved and should not be a display in the museum
- The proposed random listing of names must be replaced by the alternative at the memorial
- The ash and remains must be removed from Freshkill and given a proper burial
- The new WTC site must be rebuilt to the jurisdiction of FDNY building codes
 
In addition we discussed our request to meet with Governor Pataki to discuss these outstanding concerns, as well as, to add 2 Coalition representatives to the Memorial Board. Please feel free to contact our office by email at email@voicesofsept11.org or by phone (203) 966-3911 with any comments or questions.
 
Warm Regards,
Mary Fetchet
Voices of September 11th
http://www.voicesofsept11.org/
 
 
NY1 News


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9/11 Families Group Demands Say In Memorial Plans
JANUARY 10TH, 2005

Some relatives of the victims killed in the September 11 attacks held a vigil at the World Trade Center site Sunday to demand more of a say in plans for the memorial.

The Coalition of 9/11 Families wants to be included in future decision-making and want some of their members to have a place on the memorial foundation's board.

“I ask that when this foundation membership is finally completed,” said Jack Lynch of the group, “that two members of Coalition of 9/11 Families be on the board. I also challenge them to make process open to public.”

The board does have other victims’ relatives.

The families are also continuing to press for the burial of material taken from the World Trade Center site to the Fresh Kills Landfill.
Voices of September 11th ("Voices") is a non-profit 9/11 family advocacy group providing information and resources for 9/11 families and survivors. Voices of September 11th makes every effort to present accurate information and to provide an open forum to discuss the related issues.

Edited by author 01-12-2005 07:44 PM
This was first posted on the Flight 93 Memorial Competition
board and should be of interest here too.

Stephen Vassilev 363
 
01-12-2005 07:21 PM ET (US)
 Edited by author 01-12-2005 07:22 PM
JRM with respect to /m345 You remembered, suffered and you designed and worked - great stuff.

The funny / gruesome details in the story I can tell, are:

I phoned in for scanning work, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2005.

I wanted changes but was told to bring it that Wednesday a week ago (Wednesday, January 5th, 2005) for Friday pick up.
I was charged a fortune.

I made changes. Resubmitted Monday. It was scanned, but at 250 dpi. Fortune No. 2 went down the drain.
I visited a second place. They said they could do it for
a certain price that was 1/4 of the previous prices at 400 dpi.
I said do it. They said at about 3:45 p.m. Give us between
6 and 7 p.m. and pick it up.
I go at 5:30 to lease the car, ordered for between 5 and 6 p.m.

Oh yeah, here is a Chevy Blazer - Gas Guzzler.

I said, I wanted a six cylinder (or compact would be acceptable).

I wait 40 minutes and am told to pick up a car at another location.

I pick up my work - not done. Sorry, some others were using the computers (Never mind what was represented)

Then I pick up the Toyota Corolla at one of the other branches of the Car Rental company. I joke to the Manager: I hope you have all the blizzard weather in Toronto while I'm gone for 24 hours. He says he's working in an office - but what about his customers? I tell him I'm joking.

Now, I have very little sleep (1:30 a.m. attempt - can't sleep until 4 a.m. morning, eat something while generally looking for a guide book on Pennsylvania that was misplaced); the older person who is to come as passenger has no notice to get some sleep.

I work on the design board, package it. Take the older friend as a passenger at 10:25 p.m. and travel ~ 1281 kilometers, more or less on the second car ( 8 kilometers on the first =/~ 1289 kilometers for the mathematically- inclined ponderers.

My friend wants to purchase a bottle of wine at the duty free shop. I say, we'll be late for the car rental people.
Nope. I come in. Oh good - that's good for two duty free
bottles.

We arrive in Canada. Custom's officer lady. No 48 hours absence - that'l be $30.00 a bottle extra. Go into Customs and pay.

I return to the US side. My passenger gets a refund.

I visit another customs officer. I delivered one presentation board in Somerset, Pennsylvania. So what?
and the attempted booze purchase of two bottles failed and I returned them (you know where. I'm glad I wasn't in the long, long truck line-up and saw the one green light lane into the U.S. N.B. On the way down from Toronto I went through Niagara Falls Customs and explained the Flight 93 Memorial and showed the board. The story: the Capitol or the White House was saved. The customs officer - impressed - waved me through. For turning off early by mistake I paid two extra highway tolls of $0.50 each instead of going through Customs at Fort Erie. That's how we know we're in the U.S. - Tolls at the road toll booths.).

Edited by author 01-12-2005 06:45 PM
Siempro: /m7676

Your satirical post was funny, though I hope it doesn't generate an evil-Knievel mindset - I mean nothing against
Evil Knievel - but you know what I mean - dirty tricks.

Rainman says /m7678 he was referring to another post - a mysterious one that came up a little earlier. Sherlock Holmes - anyone? What do you find?

What's the Ridge like? Further away from the Crash Site.
There is wind. Tall grass. Wetness. Further north the draglines appear larger. But it depends on what you are doing and presenting and saying with your submission.
Yes, the view is expansive. You hit the viewpoint on the head with a shrewd comment.

Edited by author 01-12-2005 06:49 PM
Siempro regarding /m7675 : Sorry, I had a business appointment and had to answer you a little later.

The Ridge and ground zero are in good view of each other.
the Families (and others I would think) visited the Ridge in the Welding shop area to be able to see Ground Zero better. Mind you, they can also see Ground Zero from the
Temporary Memorial, but the Ridge gives an increased view from above, but further away.

If part of a memorial was on the ridge, would visitors there be able to feel like it relates to ground zero somehow?

Answer: Visitors at the questions and answer sessions
might reveal this, although the submitters can't ask questions about the competition.

Of course, some might think of Siempro's satirical post /m7615 number 4, but, hey, then you didn't hear it from me, and I certainly won't authorize such (a) blatantly, underhanded, devious, nefarious action(s), undermining the
other designers chances at knowledge, should they enter
Stage II. Unless, of course, all the questions and answers are democratically posted, and is done by the supervisors for payment of the
supervision of the competition.

Would visitors feel it (the ridge and ground zero) relates?
It would depend on what you put there and how the memorial parts connect.

Then too, you might visit the Temporary Memorial and the ridge, because

Skyline Road brings you to the Temporary Memorial. Ground Zero is said to have 24 hour security and a vehicle came by (who?), l e a v i n g the Ridge Road and the Ridge to see by process of elimination. Further by Haul Road, the roads
in this area are generally in poor shape.
If you wreck your car, you are responsible.

Part of Ridge Road going south from Skyline is marked closed. Obey the sign(s) !!!!!!

The installation on the Ridge just a dot? That depends on the size.

Thanks for letting me know that you're glad I survived Buffalo. I'm glad I survived to Toronto and Route 219 through the hills / mountains. The worst part was relatively near US 30 going north on Hwy 219 - snow and slush and water turning to ice at that time at a certain location. Then further north snowy roads and slush were
tugging at the wheels in the wheel wells of the car.

Stephen -the No. 4 pertains to the 4th item in a list of curious statements posted by (I forget) a few posts previous to mine. What's that Ridge like? I imagine the view is expansive.

Excellent post /m7672, and I'm not just saying that. You have a wry, tongue-in-cheek way of expressing the obvious and subtle absurdities plaguing this entire project. If I may boil it down?

Perception is reality. Less is more. Now we're getting somewhere.

Yes, 40 somethings will certainly be in abundance. Forty round/square/oval/rectangular/hollow things made of metal/stone/plastic/wood, with a polished/pitted/matte finish, suspended/resting/burried in the air/on a slab/in the ground, small/medium/large, and molded/painted in assorted colors, especially gold/bronze/silver and red, white and blue things. It boggles the mind.

Why not a black monolith, and place it on the moon? Why not a field full of Segal-like plaster-cast characters trudging around with somber faces? And plant healthy stuff all over them? Or turn the site into an outdoor theater with a snackbar. Visitors never have to leave their car unless the kids need popcorn or a box of crackerjacks, which contain a memorial surprise. Collect all 40, become the envy of your neighborhood.

Pentagon benches on sticks (was it wrong to laugh at this idea?). Why not 40 empty chairs facing the 168 empty chairs in Oklahoma, and so on and so forth. I hate Maya Lin.

Edited by author 01-12-2005 04:15 PM
Rainman is referring to number 4 of my satirical post /m7615.

Question for you, SV. Are the ridge and ground zero in good view of each other, or are they simply too far apart to be connected?

What I'm wondering is, if part of a memorial was on the ridge, would visitors there be able to feel like it relates to ground zero somehow? Would visitors at ground zero be able to appreciate the installation on the ridge, or would it just be a tiny dot on he horizon?

Thanks for your comments. That whole ridge and bowl area looks huge to me, and I've always wondered how realistic it would be to try to spread a memorial out over the area between the ridge and ground zero. I know the draglines can be seen from ground zero, but they're massive. Glad you survived Buffalo.

On the WTC Memorial Competition Board, what did Rainman mean when he talked about number 4 at post /m7616 ?

At Somerset I was told the submissions would be posted on the internet as soon as possible.

What was Rainman referring to?

Edited by author 01-12-2005 04:21 PM
Just returned yesterday January 11, 2005 at about 6:45 p.m. from a trip to Somerset, Pennsylvania. Nearly 1300 kilometers. Toronto-Buffalo-Erie-Pittsburgh-Somerset.
Arrived early morning.
Dropped off board. (I was, of course, fed up with the
way the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's
911 Memorial Competition still hasn't come up with
my presentation board.)

It was all smiles by everybody as I presented my board.
There were about six presentation board packages sitting
that morning in the front office.
I presented mine by leaving it leaning against the
other six packages.
I took pictures of the front face of my presentation board
package sitting in the National Park Service office in Somerset.

Received a map with the dates of the exhibition
Jan. 19, 2005 to Feb. 21, 2005
Comment Time: 1/19 to Jan 23, 2005

Submitters are not allowed to ask questions about
the competition itself, but may ask questions.

Visited the Flight 93 Temporary Memorial and the Ridge.

Return trip north through Pennsylvania on Hwy 219 to Buffalo and on to Toronto.

Treacherous weather conditions experienced.

Map: From the Somerset National Park Service Office,
go to S. Center Avenue (It may be North Center Avenue
at this point) and go up this street (~north) past E. Union St.
E Fairview Street, E. Catherine Street, Fuller Street,
Missoura Street, Saylor St., Uhl ST., Turnpike Rd., Waterworks Road, Hwy 70, past the rail line, Snyder Street, unnamed Street which runs into Georgian Place, and Georgian Place itself which also runs off of Center Ave.(Center Ave. is also known as 601)
If you run into Beacon Street, you're one street too far north.

Georgian Place was circled in green as the place of exhibition.

As far as I can come up with, all the best ways to botch this involve 40 somethings plus some earthworks. It's important that the somethings be minimalist and meaningless so we can claim they have every and any possible meaning, and the trendies can say the somethings are powerful. The earthworks are the earth mother scam, and give us the chance to say all the right things about regeneration and healing. Let's plant healthy stuff all over them.

For the 40 somethings, I'd put 40 long objects off-center on the tops of poles, spotting them around the bowl, and angle them down, pointing toward ground zero. Think Pentagon benches on sticks, with the earthworks snaking around. If you want to throw in a contorted bridge representing a crossing over, or an abstract arch to represent passing through, be my guest.

Picking the right crap is not easy. Are 40 windmills on the ridge, with a reference to Kyoto, better than 40 fruit trees, or 40 prayer wheels that visitors can spin? What could be more appealing than 40 stainless spheres reflecting the sky and the natural surroundings while mirroring the images of the visitors? Choices, choices.

Nothing is original. True, I suppose. I assume you also mean the terrorism that brought us to this world wide competition? Indeed, we owe those 40 a debt of gratitude no memorial, in my opinion, can cleverly capture. From simple gravestones to incredibly complex sacred places we do our best to commemorate. An unfortunate thing happens, however, on our road to memory.

We eliminate all evidence of the cause, because it opens old wounds, the kind we'd rather bury along with the victims.

Oklahoma gave us 168 chairs and then added a whole bunch of other stuff that I think diminished the inherent power of those 168 Empty Chairs. I understand the intended symbolisms: the two archways, the surviving elm, 1-inch deep reflecting pool, stones from the Murrah Building used for walkways, additional plantings, plaques, and the overall layout -even that some chairs are smaller than others. I get it.

But the site is lacking the most poignant, evocative image of all. The building itself. Domestic bombings of that national magnitude don't happen every day, thank God. They are rare and should be treated as such in the ways we remember the event. Original? I'd say the slaughter of 168 men, women, and children is unequivocably original.

Those nine blasted apart, exposed floors would have been a constant reminder what happened at 9:02AM. Too graphic and painful? I don't think so. You can't get any more original than allowing the artifacts to speak for themselves. Instead, they tore the building down and in it's place filled the site with harmless-looking, touchy-feely symbols of hope and healing. The damage already done, the visitor need only stroll the grounds in search of whatever meaning and purpose gives them solace from the murdering of 168 innocent human beings, when a single glance at what the terrorist did that day on American soil should be more than enough to provide some answers as to what is evil and what is not. And why the visit is a necessary reminder, telling us what IS evil in no uncertain terms. Empty chairs (or desks for that matter) clearly make their point. An artifact does it better. In my WTC design I
incorporated a section of the North Tower facade as the centerpiece. In plain sight, not cleverly hidden underground or (from what I hear) not even a part of Arad's changing memory. What a waste of time, for me to
ever visit that place.